Question about a school of fish

[Nemo2009]

Hello! I have a 20 gallon tall tank and would like to stock it with one school of fish (possibly add one or two other fish as well). There are several schooling fish to choose from as far as I've read, but I'd like to have the kind that actually swim together as a school. Which kind would you suggest to get and how many? Thanks for your help.

 

[ryanoh]

I've had luck with neon tetras schooling together, as well as glofish and other types of tetras. There's definitely more than that, those are just the ones I've had personal experience with.

 

[achase]

I have two different types of tetra's (neon and glow light) they usually swim together as a group. Sometimes though one or two will explore on their own for a bit.

Schooling fish should be kept in groups of 5 or more. You can use this site to calculate how many you can have.....AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

 

[lauraf]

Most of the smaller tetras like cardinals, neons, rummynoses etc will school well, particularly a group of ten or more - and they look better in a larger school. Smaller fish school because it is a natural response to larger predators, so you may find if you only have tetras in that tank, they will stop schooling because they are basically too relaxed! So having one or two other larger fish, like maybe a gourami, or swordtails, to 'keep them on their toes' - is a good idea. but not something so big or aggressive it will eat them, of course

 

[Nemo2009]

Thank you for your responces! I have had some experience with fish tanks, but it's been a while. The main reason I asked this question is because some fish tend to shoal more than actually school (swim together as a group), and the latter is what I'd like to have in our tank.
Gourami would be a great idea. Would it be advisable to get two different types of Gouramis to add to a school of, say, 10 tetras for a tank that size?

 

[Flowmsp]

Rummynose school very well and have very nice coloring in a well established tank! I have 6 atm, gonna go for 12 eventually i think.

 

[phin]

From what I've read (never kept personally) Emerald Eye Rasboras school quite tightly as opposed to merely shoaling together.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

i would say go either black or neon tetras. they are fun to watch. a blue, opaline, or gold gourami will get quite big 6" and can become quite aggressive at that size. i would stick to swordtails, if you do a swordtail you should do 1 male and 2 or 3 females. if you do a male you WILL have to add more than 1 female because the male will pester a lot and stress her out. swordtails only get up to 4" but they are a livebearer and you could have lots of babies. if you add a gourami or 2 do dwarf gourami's. much more peaceful and smaller and easier to keep multiples of.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

there are also a few other beautiful colored tetras out there that will school together.

a 20g high isnt a hole lot of room to go back and forth for schooling. a 20g wide might have been a little better.

 

[lauraf]

Gourami would be a great idea. Would it be advisable to get two different types of Gouramis to add to a school of, say, 10 tetras for a tank that size?

From my experience, different types of gouramis don't mix well, which is too bad because I'd love to have a bunch of different ones! Pick one type - and because a 20g with ten tetras doesn't leave a lot of room, choose one of the kinds that stay smaller - true dwarf gouramis, or even chocolate or dwarf honeys are lovely (though chocolates require a temp of about 82 degrees).
To round out your tank, you might be able to add a few dwarf cories for some fun bottom level activity, or even kuhli loaches. But please check with a site like AqAdvisor about the stocking level first. What are you thinking about for controlling algae?

 

[tropicalcrazy]

i would do oto's or shrimp for algae control. you can count 5 oto's as one in stocking wise. shrimp also dont really put off a bioload.

if you go gouramis and you do more than one get a female and a male female is long and rounded dorsal fin male is short and pointed

 

[abigor0329]

How about 6 tiger barbs, 1 kissing gourami and a rainbow shark. You have the whole tank covered then. Barbs eat from the top and middle, kisser will eat everywhere and help somewhat with the algae, and the rainbow will scavenge from the bottom. Plus the tigers will look good schooled together.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

sharks REQUIRE a 50g or more per shark

 

[abigor0329]

Have never had an issue with my rainbows in a 20 gallon.

 

[OrangeCones]

I agree with tropicalcrazy, and not keep a rainbow shark in a 20gallon high tank. They get 6" in length and would easily outgrow a tank that is 24x12x16 high.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

it just doesnt give them room to swim around at fully grown size